California Public Employees Retirement System Grows Holdings in Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• CalPERS boosted its stake in Moody’s by 3.6% to 298,104 shares (0.17% of the company), a position valued at about $142.0 million at quarter-end, while institutional investors own roughly 92.11% of the stock.
• Moody’s beat quarterly expectations (EPS $3.64 vs. $3.39; revenue $1.89B vs. $1.87B), issued FY‑2026 EPS guidance of $16.40–$17.00, and carries a MarketBeat consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target of $550.25.
• Insider sales have occurred recently—CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares for about $2.38M (insiders sold 6,755 shares totaling $3.14M over 90 days)—and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 ($4.12 annual; ~1.0% yield).

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 3.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 298,104 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,434 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.17% of Moody's worth $142,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCO. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Moody's during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Moody's in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in Moody's in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Moody's during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Moody's during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 92.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Daiwa Securities Group raised Moody's from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $500.00 to $590.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Moody's from $515.00 to $490.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Moody's in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $550.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Moody's from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Moody's from $574.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $550.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 5,213 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $2,380,829.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,613,594.19. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $456.71, for a total transaction of $171,266.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 2,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,123,049.89. This trade represents a 13.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 6,755 shares of company stock valued at $3,144,524 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company's stock.

Moody's Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $429.91 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $76.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.45. Moody's Corporation has a twelve month low of $378.71 and a twelve month high of $546.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $482.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $487.72.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $3.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.87 billion. Moody's had a return on equity of 66.01% and a net margin of 31.86%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.62 earnings per share. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Moody's Corporation will post 13.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Moody's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This is an increase from Moody's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Moody's's payout ratio is 30.12%.

Moody's Company Profile

Moody's Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody's is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody's operates primarily through two complementary businesses.

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